Richmond Hill regional councillor candidates respond to top issues

Eight candidates vying for two open seats as longtime incumbents retire

Yorkregion.com
October 17, 2018

It was a mixture of cheering and booing last Thursday night at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 375 where regional and local council candidates answered questions about top issues facing the Town of Richmond Hill.

Seven of the eight candidates vying for two open seats as regional and local councillors sat down for a two-hour Q&A session as the two longtime incumbents --Brenda Hogg and Vito Spatafora --are retiring. Candidate Sabine Ho was absent from the meeting due to the death of her mother.

Around 200 residents showed up at the legion ballroom, with standing room only. More than 10 people stood in line behind a microphone to ask their questions to the candidates.

The meeting started with a round of opening remarks where candidates shared their background and campaign focuses, before a panel tossed their questions to all candidates.

The candidates appeared to have a consensus on addressing the issue of housing availability and affordability.

Carmine Perrelli, one of the two experienced candidates in the race, said legalizing secondary suites or basement apartments could be a good place to start as Richmond Hill has not yet allowed such residential units in its dwellings.

Perrelli served on Richmond Hill council from 2010 to 2014 and opted to run for the mayoral position in the last municipal election --a race he lost by 11,000 votes to Mayor Dave Barrow.

"Second units" are self-contained residential units with a private kitchen, bathroom facilities and sleeping areas, according to the Town of Richmond Hill.

The province has required that municipalities allow second residential units in detached, semi-detached and row house units through the Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act, 2011.

Murtaza Bhujwalla and Carol Chan both agreed on the idea of bringing secondary suites to Richmond Hill and also emphasized the need for high-density residential buildings.

In addition to the basement apartments, Ramin Faraji proposed to stop land transfer tax. Joe DiPaola and Jason Cherniak shared a similar view on the housing issue in Richmond Hill.

Weibo Cheng said she’d like to stay within the town’s current budget plan.

Similarly, the seven candidates all spoke against having additional land transfer tax in order to offset the debt.

Downtown Core

The seven candidates were divided on what the town should do to revitalize its old centre at Major Mackenzie and Yonge Street.

Asked what they would do to beautify the vacant strip from Major Mackenzie to Levendale Road on Yonge Street, Perrelli’s response drew some gasps and boos from the crowd.

“When it comes to some of the heritage buildings we have downtown, they need to be demolished,” Perrelli said, who also emphasizes the importance of creating employment, parking space and residential areas in downtown Richmond Hill.

While most of other candidates did not touch upon the issues about heritage sites, Faraji pointed out that the town should take care of the heritage sites by protecting and honouring the sites.

Some candidates also clashed over whether to bring the town hall back to Major Mackenzie and Yonge Street.

Earlier this summer, the current council voted 5 to 3 to remove the town hall from the civic precinct project and investigate other options to accommodate the space needs of the municipal offices, as yorkregion.com previously reported.

Council made the decision due to concerns about the high cost, which was estimated at over $200 million.

DiPaola, who works with a commercial real estate brokerage and property management company, said he fully supported a new town hall back in the town centre. DiPaola was the Ward 6 councillor from 1998 to 2006, and that same year, he also ran unsuccessfully in the federal election for the Conservative Party, as yorkregion.com previously reported.

“Bringing the civic centre back to Yonge and Major Mackenzie would be a huge step forward to making a pedestrian-friendly walkable area.”

His opponent, Faraji, a veteran project manager, would like to take a prudent approach to the matter. “I’m in favour of developing the land at Yonge and Major Mackenzie as a catalyst to revitalize our downtown.”

He said he would do so only if there is “a clear revenue-generating source.” He suggested partnering up with private sector companies.

Another contender, Cherniak, a lawyer since 2006, brought up an alternative idea.

“We have to find an affordable plan. We can’t do the one that’s gonna involve borrowing $50 million. We need something, maybe a smaller building, with a public-facing area with council chamber and amenities, payments and put some other department elsewhere.”

Bhujwalla, with a strong business background, said he is not a career politician and would like to solve one problem at a time. As for the downtown core revitalization, he said the promises cannot be fulfilled without money.

In his long-term vision, a city hall, rather than a town hall, will be built at Major Mackenzie and Yonge.

As a former school board trustee, Chan agree to move the new town hall back to the centre.

Meanwhile, her fellow candidate Cheng proposed to build a simple building with a multi-function facility inside for use by residents.

Cheng immigrated to Canada from China 18 years ago as a computer systems analyst, and has worked at a pharmaceutical company for 15 years.

“The old building, I’d like to rent out. That will create revenue for that,” Cheng said.

Perrelli said a new town hall is not necessary because the current one is not 100 per cent utilized.

Subway extension

One of the panellists, Bryon Wilfert, who is the former Liberal MP for Richmond Hill, asked a question about a solution to get the Yonge subway extension in place.

The Yonge subway extension is planned to extend 7.4 kilometres north from Finch Station in Toronto to the Richmond Hill/Langstaff Gateway Urban Growth Centre at Hwy. 7.

The subway extension is expected to move two passengers per second with a potential daily ridership of 165,000, which is able to replace 2,500 bus trips every day from Hwy. 7 to Finch Subway station, as yorkregion.com previously reported.

Every candidate spoke positively about the prospect of the subway extension in Richmond Hill, but their approaches varied.

Some don’t think it’s possible for Richmond Hill to see the subway extension implemented within the next four years.

“I’m not promising a subway within the next four years, however, what I promise is while I’m in office, every decision, every vote that I cast will be to support the extension of that subway,” Faraji said.

He added the subway would not become a reality unless the town creates an “organic interest” by making investments in employments and education in the town in the first place.

For Bhujwalla, the priority should be placed on growing density. He said Richmond Hill would need higher density as a “justification” to demand for the subway extension.

Some candidates looked beyond the town for potential co-operation on this massive project.

Working with York Region and Toronto is a great way to make the subway in Richmond Hill a reality, Cherniak said.

Chan said she would find ways to motivate outside investments to make the subway extension possible in Richmond Hill in about four or five years.

Wilfert, who only got to ask one of his two questions due to the long line of audience waiting to ask questions, said the candidates have touched upon some of the critical issues at the meeting, but they failed to go any further than expressing their good intentions.

Another question Wilfert would have liked to hear from the candidates on but didn't get a chance to ask, is their strategies to attract businesses into Richmond Hill to employ residents.

He encouraged the voters to do research on the candidates, look at their council records if they're experienced, find out what they've done in the past if they're new, but most importantly: go out and vote.

"The only way you can be a part of the solution is to exercise your franchise," Wilfert said.